The Cycle A Gospels
from JohnThe Third, Fourth and Fifth Weeks of
Lent

These three gospels are used at least durning one Mass each Sunday on the 3rd, 4th and 5th Sundays of Lent. They are used at every Sunday Mass during Cycle A
(2014, 2017, 2020). They are recommended at Liturgies each year when celebrating the Scrutinies
of the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults.

As
part of our "Praying Lent" site, we offer these openings to prayer,
on these important Lenten gospels.

The Woman at the Well
The Third Sunday of Lent - The First Scrutiny - John
4:3-42

Why did the Samaritan woman come to draw water
at noon, the hottest time of the day?
Did she want to avoid the times the other women in town came to the
well?
What are the places in my life where I am embarrassed, where I avoid
interaction with others?
What are the noon day wells of my life?
Can I imagine Jesus approaching me there?

Jesus tries to reveal his thirst to her -
perhaps his thirst for intimacy with her - but she puts him off.
She's not worthy. It won't work. When he offers to satisfy her
thirst, she puts him off. He can't satisfy what she needs, at
least with this well, and without a bucket.

How do I put Jesus off, with excuses, with
problems, with barriers? I don't have time; I haven't done this
before; my stuff's too complicated; I don't know how to find you in
this mess.

When he shows her that he knows her, she knows
she's in the presence of someone special - perhaps the one she has thirsted
for all her life.

Do I let Jesus show me that he knows and understands
me?
Can I find the words to say he is the one I have thirsted for all
my life?

The grace will come when I see that I have
been at the well a long time and have long been thirsty. When
I can name the new thirst, the Water that now satisfies that thirst,
I can overcome my remaining resistance to trust. When I
see that Jesus reveals himself to me by revealing me to me, thereby
showing me my need for him as Savior, I will rejoice and tell the whole
world, too.

The Man Born Blind
The Fourth Sunday of Lent - The Second Scrutiny - John
9:1-41

The man born blind washed the mud from his
eyes in the pool called, Siloam, "The One who is sent."
How is Jesus a pool to wash the mud from my eyes, that I might see?

As soon as he could see, his life became very
difficult. People wondered if he was the same man, before they believed
he could now see.
Has the restoration of my sight so changed me that others are surprised
at the transformation?

So much fear seems to surround the restoration
of his sight.
What fears do I now have to seeing clearly who Jesus is and what
choices I must make to be with him?

The grace will come when I acknowledge that
my eyes have been opened. Others may not want to believe I can see,
but I know I can only keep repeating it, to myself and to them.
I may experience rejection by some for claiming this new vision, but
in the Light I can see clearly one who has healed me, and I give him
thanks and praise.

The Raising of Lazarus from
the Dead The Fifth Sunday of Lent - The Third Scrutiny - John
11:1-44

Martha speaks profound sorrow at the death
of Lazarus, but it is tinged with a touch of blaming Jesus: "Lord,
if you had been here my brother would not have died."

Where do I resent the losses in my life and
somehow blame God for them, rather than seeing them as places where
God's glory will be revealed?

Even when Jesus tells Martha, "I am the one
who raises the dead to life!" she finds it hard to believe he means
now, in the case of her dead brother.

Where do I doubt that Jesus can bring life?

Jesus stands before the tomb weeping.
He places no barriers to his feelings about death. Could he be
staring at and facing the tomb of his own death?

Can I be with him there?
Can I stand before and face the tombs in my daily life?

Jesus shouts the liberating words of life,
"Lazarus, come forth!"

How is he shouting that to me today?

The grace will come when I experience how
my 'deaths' will not end in death, but in giving glory to God.
When I experience how entombed I have been, tied and bound, no longer
alive, dead for a long time, I will sense the power of the command of
Jesus that I "come forth."